What a summer it was for women’s football, England made the final of the World Cup, a Spanish official tried to make the whole sport about him, and in many ways the game is stronger than it has ever been.

Oh, and Brighton signed (I think) 11 new players. Whew.

So here I am trying to sum up Brighton’s prospects in the WSL and how I think our season will go. A thankless task indeed, as I’m almost guaranteed to get it spectacularly wrong, but it’s an interesting exercise (I hope), so lets get started…

GOALKEEPER

I’ve done a more in depth piece on this already so please do have a gander at that if you so wish. Obviously we said goodbye to Megan Walsh at the end of last year and the longer the situation with Lydia Williams played out, the more you felt she wasn’t coming back. In came Nicky Evrard on loan from Chelsea and Sophie Baggaley from Manchester United on deadline day, so our starting keeper will have had very little time to build a rapport with the back four. That being said I don’t have any major concerns at the position. Evrard has a ton of international experience with Belgium and was obviously well-regarded enough for Chelsea to bring her in. Had they not gone on to sign Hannah Hampton she may well have stayed at her parent club this season. Whilst Baggaley barely played at United due to the form of Mary Earps, she is well thought of from her time at Bristol City and I think she will be given opportunities to make that starting role her own. Katie Startup deserves a mention too after playing all pre-season and remaining a true professional despite the strength in depth above her as it stands.

DEFENCE

I don’t think anyone can deny that the defence last year was pretty atrocious, particularly at the start of the campaign. The 8-0 drubbing at home to Spurs was a dark day for the club, ultimately leading Hope Powell to resign as first-team manager. Things did appear to tighten up a little once Zoe Morse and Guro Bergsvand arrived in January, but with Morse’s subsequent retirement and the exit of Victoria Williams, the defense needed strength and depth. The addition of Maria Thorisdottir could be an absolute masterstroke in my opinion. Not only is she a badly needed physical presence at centre-back, but she brings both experience and a winning mentality – a set of skills that fits the Brighton ethos perfectly. Jorelyn Carabali, who starred for Colombia in the recent World Cup has also joined to provide competition for places, and she’s another player who could force her way in to a starting role sooner rather than later. At full-back the club did well to fend off interest in Poppy Pattinson, who always looks comfortable going forward, but will be looking to take another step up defensively as the left-side of a more cohesive unit. The presumed starter on the right will be Li Mengwen, another new recruit, and another player who competed at the World Cup. She spent last season on loan at PSG, who by all accounts appeared interested in bringing her back, but eventually chose not to. She should bring some much needed quality and experience to the right-back position. Emma Kullburg, who can play anywhere across the back line, should still see plenty of game time as a rotational option. Overall you’d have to say that the quality is absolutely there, but we need to keep everyone healthy as I still wonder if the defence is a little thin on options.

MIDFIELD

Improving the midfield was equally as vital a task as with the defence. Too often last season they failed to support those behind them, whilst lacking the movement and composure to link up with those in front. The installation of Vicky Losada into the line-up will provide much needed experience along with that winning mentality I spoke about before. She will also take over the captaincy from Julia Zigiotti Olme who performed admirably in the role, but will now be able to concentrate solely on her own game moving forward. The other eye-catching piece of business was the capture of Tatiana Pinto who had multiple suitors this summer after she starred in the World Cup for Portugal. Not only is she real quality, but it’s a statement of intent from the club that they can and will go after big names on the transfer market. Madison Haley, Charlie Rule and Mackenzie Hawkesby all joined from Sydney FC fresh off their A-League title win. How and where all three will fit into the squad remains to be seen, but they’re here to develop and who’s to say that doesn’t lead to one or all of them achieving success in the WSL. Obviously I can’t talk about the midfield without mentioning Katie Robinson. Whilst she didn’t manage to take the field for England at the World Cup (and she wasn’t the only one), the experience and knowledge gained from a summer training with some of the best players in the world will be invaluable as she continues to go from strength to strength. Rounding out the position group, Veatriki Sarri and Dejana Stefanovic and Maisie Symonds will all be looking to stake their own claim to a starting spot and they could all prove difference makers as the season wears on.

FORWARDS

Our first signing of the summer, and one of real intent, was Pauline Bremer from Wolfsburg. Not only is she an accomplished international with prior experience in the WSL with Manchester City, but she is another serial winner with two UWCL trophies on her resumé as well as multiple domestic titles. Along with Elisabeth Terland and Lee Guem-Min, Brighton now have three international quality forwards to provide the goals which were sorely missed last season. I have a suspicion that the club may also view Zigiotti Olme and Haley as primarily attacking midfielders so they may be asked to commit further up the pitch when necessary.

OVERALL

I think it’s ok to be broadly positive whilst remaining rooted in reality. The club have certainly backed Melissa Phillips in the transfer market and added some much needed quality. If the squad as a whole and in particular our marquee names can stay fit, we have a real shot at slotting in just behind Villa this year in 6th – a good place to build from. I do fear though, one or two key injuries, and we could revert to last season’s leaky defence and/or toothless attack. Ultimately though this team shouldn’t be aiming to survive, they should be at least working towards becoming the ‘best of the rest’ – and with that in mind my prediction is a 7th place finish for the Albion this season.

Hope to see you all at a game soon!